Gastrodiplomacy in Iran

We are pleased to introduce Mohammad Shirkavand, our Association’s first certified ambassador in Iran. We asked Mohammad to share his thoughts about this important role, which uses the country’s culinary culture to nurture relations between Iran’s providers of culinary experiences and food-lovers in other countries.

Being Immersed in culture and experiential tourism opened a gate for me to become an Ambassador of World Food Travel Association to increase international awareness about Persian culinary tourism, also as a Board of Directors of Creative Tourism Development Club of UNESCO, the identity of the culinary culture of each city is so special to me as it makes a specific dish, dessert, known or named dedicated to the area which would carry the essence and the definition of the culture which works a collaborative asset for cities to maximize their brand architecture in Creative Tourism.

Also, the culinary attitude in Iranian culture offers many of the gastronomy, eating, and drinking habits, from the recipe and cooking methods to the serving and eating tools, especially when you get this chance to gain this experience in an indigenous space, so my purpose as an ambassador is to raise understanding of Culinary Tourism’s current and potential contribution to destination development with empowering stakeholders to build on the opportunities that culinary tourism offers as a driver of destination development and to address current challenges, also inciting changes in policies, business practices and consumer behaviour, to build a truly culinary tourism sector in Iran.

You can learn more about Mohammad here.